Distinction of the Steinberg representation with respect to a symmetric pair

Abstract: Let $K$ be a non-archimedean local field of residual characteristic $p\neq 2$. Let $G$ be a connected reductive group over $K$, let $\theta$ be an involution of $G$ over $K$, and let $H$ be the connected component of $\theta$-fixed subgroup of $G$ over $K$. By realizing the Steinberg representation of $G$ as the $G$-space of complex smooth harmonic cochains following the idea of Broussous--Court`es, we study its space of distinction by $H$ as a finite dimensional complex vector space. We give an upper bound of the dimension, and under certain conditions, we show that the upper bound is sharp by explicitly constructing a basis using the technique of Poincar\'e series. Finally, we apply our general theory to the case where $G$ is a general linear group and $H$ a special orthogonal subgroup, which leads to a complete classification result.